The Philadelphia Phillies, desperate for a center fielder, decided not to overpay in cash on a free agent like Michael Bourn and instead opted to overpay in trade to obtain Ben Revere from the Minnesota Twins who adds more young pitching to their organization.
Please do not get me wrong; Ben Revere is a fine player in his own right. He possesses plus speed and is worth probably 2-wins above replacement, 3-WAR at most, with his glove and feet alone but his bat is so far below average that it could cost a win.
Revere is the proud owner of 20 power (the lowest grade on the scouting scale) and a career 78 wRC+. His ISO of .044 in his career is the worst of any player with 1000 plate appearances since he appeared in the Majors, lower than Juan Pierre, Jamey Carroll, and Ryan Theriot. New teammate, and pitcher, Cliff Lee has a career .058 ISO. He does have excellent contact skills, though, but his patience is pathetic, mustering only a 5.3% unintentional walk rate in his young career.
Revere does not belong anywhere near the top of the Phillies’ lineup and if they are smart they will bat him eight, in front of the pitcher.
The Phillies gave up one of their top prospects in Trevor May. May possesses a low-to-mid 90s fastball with good sink and a great frame that helps him hold his velocity deep into games. He pairs it with an above-average curveball that has the chance to be more and a developing change-up. He has struck out better than a batter per inning four straight seasons. His command, control, and mechanics all need to improve as well as his change-up but he has the upside of a number two starter. The Twins, who preach control, could be exactly what May needs to further his game.
Vance Worley has an 89-91 mph fastball that he locates well and an slightly above-average slider to go with a durable frame that should be able to eat a lot of innings at the back of the Twins rotation. He also keeps the ball in the park better than league average and moves to a park that is better at suppressing homeruns than the home park he is leaving.
The Phillies may not have overpaid financially for a center fielder but they overpaid significantly in arms and take one further step at fully depleting their farm system to get a player in Revere whose 2.8 fWAR per 600 plate appearances is right in line with that of Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez (2.8 fWAR/600) and Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Sam Fuld (2.7 fWAR/600).
-Jonathan C. Mitchell can also be found writing about the Tampa Bay Rays at DRaysBay and you can follow him on twitter at @FigureFilbert. Be sure to follow MLBdirt at @MLBdirt
